One of Maya Angelou’s many memorable moments took place during the filming of the 1993 drama, “Poetic Justice,” where she diffused an argument involving the film’s star, Tupac Shakur.
Angelou recalled the moment during a 2013 interview with George Stroumboulopoulos.
“I didn’t know who he was… He was into a big rowel with another young man,” she recalled during the interview. “And so I said to him, ‘May I speak to you?’ And he was cursing. ‘I wouldn’t give a…’ I said, ‘I understand that, but let me speak to you.’… ‘If these mutha…,’ I said, ‘I got ya. However, let me speak to you.’ And finally I said, ‘When was the last time anyone told you how important you are? Did you know our people stood on auction blocks, were bought and sold so that you could stay alive today.’”
“And finally he heard me and stopped talking, and started to weep. And I put my arms around him, and I walked him back into the arena. And he cried.”
